Is it too late?
by In-A-Parallel-World
Summary: Thanksgiving at the Humphries. What happens if Vanessa doesn't get the letter? Has too much happened for its contents to matter anymore?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N **ok so this is my first attempt at fanfic. Infact it's the first thing i've written in 5 years. So constructive criticism please, but don't be too harsh. Ive taken a big chunk of this from the actual show (this occurs season 2 obviously) but tried to put my own spin on it regarding the characters. I know not much happens but im trying to set it up. And in my world, the thieving cow doesnt get her paws on the most important item ever to appear on GG! I know no-one really ships these guys anymore because its over but i've wanted to write something for ages and i can't fall out of love with them! **Warning:** Don't get your hopes up. Nate does not appear in this chapter. we'll get to him later!

**Disclaimer** I do not own any part of gossip girl - i mean, i bought the box set but that doesn't count.

**Is it too late?**

It was thanksgiving and Jenny and Vanessa were stood in the middle of the loft having a heart to heart as everyone bustled around in the kitchen trying to get some sort of dinner ready.

"Look, I'm really sorry about Nate." Jenny was the first to speak. "I mean, if it's any consolation, I don't think he ever really liked me anyway. I mean, I haven't heard from him in weeks. So… " she finished in a resigned voice. She hoped Vanessa hadn't picked up on that. The last thing she wanted was for V to know how much it hurt her that Nate hadn't contacted her at all since the night of the guerrilla fashion show.

'_That's just what Nate said about Jenny' _Vanessa thought _'So is it just a case of wires getting crossed and they both still want each other? Or did they just not care about each other enough to talk? Well Nate had asked Vanessa to meet up with him so he obviously felt it was just a kiss in the heat of the moment and he didn't have any true feelings for Jenny, so maybe she would go out with him after all…' _She gave Jenny a sad smile "Well our friendship is more important than some guy right? So lets just eat some turkey and put it behind us. K?" She questioned. "Okay" the younger girl replied, moving forward to hug her oldest friend. "I missed you" she added as their arms wrapped round each other. "I missed you too" replied Vanessa.

"I call dibs on mashed potatoes!" Vanessa called out as the two disentangled and made their way to the kitchen to offer their help in preparing dinner.

"Oh Jen, your mails been piling up." Dan remembered and slid a large stack of mail towards his sister. "It's mostly catalogues, but still, you should sift through it.

"Okay" Jenny smiled a thanks at her brother and picked up the rather heavy pile.

"Before you get going on that" Rufus interrupted "you care to help me find the marshmallows?" he gave his daughter a big smile, he knew how she loved them on her sweet potatoes and he was rewarded with a massive grin back in return. "Absolutely! I'm just going to put these out of the way first, my arms are about to drop off" she laughed, taking the letters into her room and dumping them in the middle of her bed, then she returned to the kitchen. "Right, **Marshmallows**!" she squealed. She really did love them!

Later that night Jenny was stood by the kitchen sink, washing up, and had Dan stood beside her with a tea-towel. Rufus was currently in his bedroom strumming some chords on his guitar. He always had inspiration for a song after a visit from Lily. She and Eric had joined them for dinner but had now gone home to see if they could find Serena before thanksgiving was over. Vanessa had left just 10 minutes ago; her sister Ruby had picked her up so they could go see their folks in Vermont. Not their favourite thing to do but they only did it a couple of times a year and together it was bearable: especially since they were expected to stay until the new year.

"So Jen" Dan broke the silence that had enveloped the loft after everybody had left. "I'm glad you and Vanessa are friends again, I mean after what Nate-"

Jenny cut him off. "It wasn't Nate's fault Dan" she told her brother simply. "yeah, it was about Nate but I knew what I was doing OK, it just sort of happened, neither of us meant it to, and anyway, I kissed him first so you can't really blame him for this."

"Yeah but Jen, you're only 15, Nate's older, he should know better, and he was living under our roof, he took advantage of you!" Dan really wanted his sister to understand his anger at his former best friend.

Jenny didn't want to talk about this right now, especially not with Dan, he had his opinions and he stuck to them, he always thought he was right. "Yeah Dan, exactly! I'm 15, it's not like I'm a kid. Look can we not talk about this. It was weeks ago, whatever happened is over" she sighed as sadness flickered across her face "I repaired my relationship with V and I'm really happy that I did, maybe you should think about doing the same with Nate!" She turned back to the pots in the sink, a clear sign that the conversation was over, and carried on washing up in silence. As soon as Jenny had cleaned the last plate, she turned away and walked into her room without another word.

She shut the door and turned around about to flop onto her bed when she saw the mail strewn across it. Well nothing better than a mundane task to calm her down. She began to sift through it. Dan was right, it was mostly catalogues. She put them in a pile to look through at her leisure. Then she started looking through the letters, there was a couple from her bank, one from her mum; they liked writing to each other, it seemed more personal that way. Then there was one from….the rest of the letters fell from her hand as the butterflies were reawakened in her stomach.

"Nate?" she whispered.

**A/N **so the big question is. do i continue? would you read more? i know it isn't overly enticing you to carry on but i couldn't really think of a good place to stop it. plus its half two and i need sleep. **Please Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **Again, seems like not much happens. maybe i'm not cut out for this story telling at all but i'll plod on anyway. i'm finding it difficult to get in the characters heads to be honest, so until i really do i cant have things happen too quickly. There won't be an update for a couple of days because I have to work but hopefully i'll get something up in the next 9 days, and then i'm on holiday for two weeks. sorry if it seems jumbled i couldnt work out how best to set it out.

**Warning -** Sorry but i'm english. So i use english words not american. eg. 'Lift' not 'Elevator'

**Disclaimer. **I do not own gossip girl - i dont think anyone does, she does what the hell she likes!

**This chapter is for BAEFJNH09 and Del-Sara my first 2 reviewers who seem to have faith that this could end up going somewhere.** **Ta guys!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Jenny wasn't sure how long she stood there staring at the envelope. She couldn't bring herself to open it, too scared of what was written inside. _"what does he want me to know that he can't say to my face? That it was a huge mistake and he doesn't feel that way about me. The only reason is because we were living together and he'd mixed the stronger friendship with something different? Did he even want to be her friend at all?" _She had all these thoughts swimming round her head making her feel sick to her stomach. But amongst those feelings was another thought. _"He did contact me, all this time I was feeling rejected and he had got in touch." _That was the thought that pushed her into opening the envelope and unfolding the letter inside.

She had to re-read it twice, to believe what Nate had written. This was so unlike him to lay bare his feelings. Yes, he had always found comfort in talking out his problems with people, but this? He never went this deep, never let people see _how much _things affected him. Jenny couldn't get the last page out of her head.

_**I can't hide the way I feel about you. The emotions are too strong for me to pretend that they don't exist. I think about you all the time. Now that your brother knows about us, I have to stay away from you. But I don't want to. I really care about you. I just don't know what to do.**_

_**Nate **_

Tears welled up in her eyes as she chewed on her lip. No wonder he hadn't tried to contact her again. Nate had told her feelings that she was sure he had never told anyone else, even Blair and they had dated forever; and he must have thought that she had just ignored him. He must feel humiliated. Jenny had to see him, set it straight and explain everything, why she ran, why she hadn't called and why everything had gone wrong for them. She just hoped it wasn't too late.

Jenny put the letter in her bag and grabbed her coat, putting it on as she ran towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" She halted. Damn, Dan was sat on the sofa staring at her. "I've got something I need to do, its kind of important." she replied in a rush, hoping she could get away quickly. Dan looked at his little sister with disappointment "Jen you've only been back five minutes and your already using the place as a doss house. Have you even asked dad if you can go?" Jenny looked at her brother. He had a point but this couldn't wait. "Look Dan, I know were getting back to rights and everything, and I don't want to do anything that will rock the boat but I have to do this, I need to, I'll try not to be too long okay?" She looked at him and gave him an apologetic smile and twisted the door knob. "Wait, Jen-" But it was too late, Jenny was already out of the door.

Jenny got onto the street and started to walk in the cool night air. There was nothing like walking at night to clear her head and give her time to think. _"Will he hear me out? Would he believe a word I say - I'm not sure even I believe what has happened the past few weeks. It just went from bad to worse." _She kept her eye out for a taxi the whole time, she was never going to walk all the way to the upper east side, and eventually one came into view. She stuck her arm out and was thankful for the warmth inside the car when she got in and closed the door.

She realised she hadn't really thought any further than 'Go see Nate_' _when the taxi driver asked "where to, love?" Where would Nate be? "Erm…" Jenny replied "I guess I never thought that far" The driver gave her a questioning look. "Head towards the upper east side for now and I'll try and figure it out" she gave him a nervous laugh. "Okay" The driver looking a little amused, turned back round and pulled away from the curb.

Jenny took her phone from her bag and dialled Nate's number. It began to ring and the butterflies had started up again, but before they could fly around too much the line abruptly cut off. She tried again but the same thing happened. So he was obviously rejecting her calls. She couldn't blame him, she would do the same in his position, but she had to talk to him. She sighed. Well Nate wouldn't be stupid enough to go back to squatting in his house, Jenny was sure of that. He couldn't have been with Serena because Lily had mentioned something about Aaron. She had seen Blair earlier and she was dealing with her own problems, which just left… Chuck. Great. The last person on Earth she ever wanted to talk to but how else was she supposed to get to Nate?

She rang Chuck and _he_ did answer. "Hello?" She shuddered as she heard the sleazy voice come through the line. She took a deep breath. "Hey Chuck, It's Jenny" She told him, adding false joy to her voice. "Well, well, well. Little Jenny Humphrey. To what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice made her skin crawl and she was reminded once more of the rooftop a year ago. Jenny couldn't stand the pleasantries anymore. "Let's cut the crap Chuck, I'm only ringing to see if you know where Nate is. I wouldn't ever think of calling you under any other circumstances." She could hear the distaste in her voice but she really didn't care. Why should she act any other way after what he had nearly done to her. The phone was quiet at the other end, after a moment Chuck replied "Well I don't know, he's not here." Somehow she wasn't convinced, Chuck was a good liar normally but he sounded confused like he didn't know what was going on, it made her think he was keeping something back. "Well do you know where he might be?" she asked, exasperated. "No, Sorry." was all Chuck replied. "Well thanks for nothing Charles" Jenny responded tartly and hung up the phone.

Chuck had said here, that must mean he was at home right? "I think I know where I'm headed" she told the taxi driver "Can you take me to the Palace please?"

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><p>"<em>Just when things were beginning to look up" <em>Nate thought. Sure, his dad had been arrested but at least they could get there house and money back, and The Captain had been living abroad anyway, Nate hadn't seen him in ages, at least he would be able to visit him and wouldn't have to lie to his friends or the police anymore. He had got Chuck back as a friend because he had come to help Nate when he needed it, along with Vanessa who had helped too, despite everything that had happened between them. He really liked Vanessa , and he wasn't sure why they had broken up in the first place so he asked her if she wanted to go out and she seemed up for the idea but then she mentioned Jenny. Why did she have to do that? Just when he was trying to forget about the time he'd spent at the Humphries, she brought up the thing that hurt the most. So he brushed the comment away, he couldn't even remember what he had told her, but from her reaction it seemed to be an acceptable answer.

And then Jenny had rung him. Why now, after all this time, did she suddenly want to come into his life again? He'd written that letter and…nothing! so why should he answer her call. God, He needed a drink! He got up and poured himself a generous amount of whiskey and decided he would drink himself into oblivion. His face filled with horror as he heard Chuck say those three words. "Little Jenny Humphrey" He locked eyes with his best friend and shook his head vehemently. He knew why Jenny had called Chuck, She would never do it unless she felt it was her only option, but he didn't care, he couldn't talk to her. Thankfully Chuck lied for him but Nate had known him for a very long time, he didn't like being kept in the dark, and everybody knew that when it came to Chuck Bass, everything comes at a price: Nate would have to talk.

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><p>They had been sat in Chuck's suite at the Palace for some time. Chuck had noticed that Nate had been pretty quiet since his chat with Vanessa outside his house. At first he put it down to the fact that his father had been arrested. Even though Nate had made the right choice for his family, Chuck knew he must be feeling guilty about being the one to persuade his dad into handing himself in. But as the evening wore on and more alcohol was consumed he realised that something else was upsetting his friend. He was about to ask what when Nate's phone went off. This snapped Nate out of his daze and a small smile appeared on his face, but it quickly vanished and he had rejected the call. As Chuck took time to process this the phone rang again, Nate didn't even look at it that time, he just cut the call off and walked to the bar in Chuck's living room to get another drink.<p>

Chuck had decided not to press the matter, Nate would talk when he was ready, he'd always talked through his problems with his friends. As he watched Nate drink a large glass of whisky he worried, thinking back to what had happened earlier in the day. Well, he did overhear one word from the conversation Nate had had with Vanessa. **'Jenny' **_"Surely not?" _Chuck thought to himself _"Sure, Jenny's hot, I can't deny that…god I can't believe what I nearly did, what was I thinking?…but Nate, he's not stupid enough to go there is he? Though Dan did throw him out rather abruptly…" _His train of thought had been interrupted by his phone ringing, it wasn't a number he recognised .

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><p>Nate looked over at his friend as Chuck hung up the phone. He saw the look on Chuck's face, the one that said <em>'Someone has a secret and I'll do anything to find out what it is' <em>and started fidget. And then it came. "So Nathaniel, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to work it out?"

They both took seats, Nate facing the window and Chuck sat opposite him. "Tell you what?" asked Nate, feigning innocence.

"Don't give me your bullshit Nate, why is Jenny Humphrey calling for you and why have you been moping around all night?" Chuck grilled his friend for answers.

"I don't know Chuck, we're friends, she probably just wants to catch up or something. And if you didn't notice, my dad just got arrested, why wouldn't I be a little down?" He didn't want to talk about this now, or ever really, especially not with Chuck.

"Yeah well I'll tell you what I know. Dan chucks you out of the loft pretty abruptly, you run off for a few weeks, Vanessa asks about Jenny before she says yes to a date…a pattern is emerging here. You've been quiet ever since you heard Jenny's name, you reject her calls and then she's ringing me because she is that desperate to see you." A light came on in Chuck's head "Oh Nathaniel Archibald, please tell me you did not succumb to jail-bait" He looked over at his friend daring him to refute the claims.

Nate looked appalled that his friend could even think that. "Jesus Chuck, of course I didn't. It wasn't like that, Jenny's not like that.

"Well if you didn't sleep with her then what?" Chuck could see that Nate wasn't thinking about what he was saying, if he could guide him in the right direction then Nate would spill without even realising it.

"We were just hanging out at the loft having a laugh, watching films. Then she went out with her mates and I went to get her and then she kissed me. I should have stopped it there but as she started to walk away I pulled her back, I don't know why but I just kissed her, really kissed her." Nate finished and put his head in his hands.

Chuck was more confused than ever. "So your running away and ignoring her because you kissed her once?" This made no sense, Nate had kissed plenty of girls in his time.

"No, it wasn't just once" Nate admitted "I don't know Chuck, It felt right, like we fit together or something, the feeling I got, made me feel like I could be somebody better. But then she ran after Vanessa. She chose her over me" Defeat evident in his voice.

"I'm sure if you just talk to her, you can work it out, you've always been friends. The silent treatment does nobody any favours." Chuck was surprised, he knew Nate, and even though Nate had dated Blair for years he was sure he never really had feelings for her. Nate wasn't really the committed type. But this was different.

"No forget it Chuck. I thought Jenny was someone else but she wasn't, she was just another mistake. If I hadn't been staying with Dan it would never have happened, I guess I just didn't like being single" Nate summarised.

"Well I guess I got what I came for" a too familiar voice stated, and Nate turned around in time to see Jenny in the lift before the doors closed between them.

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><p><strong>AN **Dialogue is definetely not my strong point, in my opinion, whats wrong with "he said, she said" :D


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N **So here is the next chapter, you're lucky i got something done. Friday I was working - drove 500 miles, woo! Saturday - Thought i'd play sims for an hour, 4 hours later...(in my defense my sims are named nate and jenny) Then the cat brought a bird into the house and failed to injure it so it was flying around and hiding for another 4 hours before we managed to free it. and then sunday I caught up with torchwood which is dragging on too long, i miss the owen, tosh days - and why does america get it before us? then i was watching some BBC4 programmes about acoustic guitars and songs, pretty epic. Today I started by watching true blood, which is just the weirdest shit you can ever watch these days. the writers must be high when they write the scripts! then i was ironing and watching gossip girl dvds :D although i totally didnt want to watch the snowflake ball episode it was better than i thought because i didnt realise that when V was talking to N about J at the beginning, he was totally like, don't worry Jenny doesn't care (he never said he didnt) and then when she says what if she does? he kinda totally avoids the question - the episode still ends with me crying into my cup of tea though. and now im in the big block of episodes where they never ever cross paths - rrrgh! Anyway! End of rant! I needed some N/J happiness, so here goes...

**Disclaimer **I don't own gossip girl, im not that sadistic.

**Chapter 3**

As the lift doors closed, Jenny kept pushing the button for the ground floor and fought hard against the tears that threatened to escape. She couldn't get out of there quick enough. She knew that what had happened in that week with Nate was a one off thing, that her coming to talk to him was a waste of time, yet she had led herself to believe that when she walked into that room, they would run into each others arms and everything would be perfect. She really had to stop watching clichéd films with fairy tale endings: they were a myth designed to make everyone feel better about the real world, give you false hope that there is something and someone to keep on living for, that one person who would fight wars, cross oceans and lay down their life for you. She had believed every one of those closing scenes and that naivety had left her here in this lift, an empty shell.

She was _not _going to cry! Crying over a boy was just too pathetic, especially one you never really dated! She took a deep breath and straightened her back. _"I will walk out of this hotel with dignity" _thought Jenny as the doors opened to the reception area. A man dressed in a Palace uniform came up to her as she stepped out of the lift, he looked extremely serious. "Excuse me miss, but could you please follow me a moment?" It was a question, but barely. She just looked at him confused, what the hell did he want? "Erm, why?" she asked. "A theft has been reported from one of the rooms and your description was given, we need to check your bag." He informed her. _"Yeah, so much for dignity, I couldn't even get through the foyer"_

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><p>Nate put his head in his hands, why had Jenny had to hear that? Why was she there in the first place, Chuck had told her that Nate wasn't with him, why couldn't she have taken the hint that he didn't want to talk, and now he's really put his foot in it! "Smooth, Nathaniel!" Chuck jeered. Nate was not going to be mocked, he decided to keep up the act. "Whatever Chuck, she knew I didn't want to see her, yet she came anyway, she wanted the truth and she got it, we can both forget it ever happened now and move on. Chuck didn't buy that for a second. "Don't be an idiot all your life" he told his friend as he picked up the telephone.<p>

"Good evening, this is the Palace Hotel, how can I help you?" asked a voice on the other end.

"Hello, this is Charles Bass, from the Bass Suite. The blonde girl who just came up here, can you stop her before she leaves, I think she has taken something from here." Chuck put on his formal voice, indicating authority.

"Of course, sir. Do you want us to check her bag and ring the police?" replied the voice.

"No, no. That won't be necessary, can you just hold her, someone will be there in a moment, thank you." Chuck notified the employee and hung up the phone.

He stared at Nate and when he didn't get the hint Chuck added "So? What are you waiting for? Go!"

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><p>"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Jenny practically shouted at the guy. "This has to have something with Chuck Bass right? I don't know what game he is playing this time but I can assure you, I didn't take anything, I wasn't even up there long enough. "<p>

"I'm sorry miss, but we have to take each call seriously so please step this way." Asked the man, trying to remove the scene from the hotel foyer, it wasn't good for business.

"uh-uh, I don't think so, this is bullshit and I'm not taking it anymore" She told him and started for the door.

Just then the lift pinged and she heard a voice. "Jenny! Wait!"

She kept walking but then a hand closed around her wrist and she flinched. "Get off me Chuck" she shouted "I don't know what game you're playing but just leave me alone!"

He saw how scared of him she looked, and felt the stab of guilt again. He let go of her "Ok, sorry, sorry, I only lied about the stealing to get them to stop you leaving." he explained. "Look, I know what you heard but it wasn't the whole story ok? You and Nate seriously have to sit down and talk, I don't know what's gone on but nothing will change until you do."

Jenny remembered Vanessa telling her that when they were talking about her parents, look how well that turned out. "If Nate wanted to talk then why isn't he here instead of you?" She asked.

Chuck looked torn for a minute, then replied "He's been going through a lot recently, like I said, you need to talk. So you are going up to my suite and I'm not letting you leave till you two have sorted out your differences." he finished, while pushing her into the lift and pressing the button for his floor.

Jenny stared at Chuck as the doors closed between them, why was he doing this, making them talk, it made no sense, he always had a hidden agenda, she just couldn't work out what it was. She began to feel nervous as the lift got higher, what was going to happen? eventually the doors opened up into Chuck suite and she stepped out precariously. She couldn't see Nate so she went further into the living area but there was still no sign. Should she shout out his name or go and look for him? Jenny thought about it and decided to go looking, if she called he might just try and ignore her but if she went looking then she could at least trap him in one room. She walked round the corner to the kitchen area but he wasn't there either, which meant he must be in one of the bedrooms. She found him in the second one, laid on his bed with his eyes closed.

"Hey" she spoke softy as she leaned against the door frame. He sat up quickly and his eyes shot open, he obviously hadn't heard her come in. Jenny smiled back at him apologetically and added "So Chuck reckons we need to have a tête-à-tête"

"Yeah well Chuck should keep out of things that don't concern him, What are you doing here Jenny?" He sounded cold and detached as he lay back down.

"I just told you Chu-" She started before she was interrupted.

"I mean why did you come in the first place. We haven't spoken in weeks, why now?" He asked, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"I just got your letter and I came straight over" She told him bluntly.

Nate's heart stopped for just a second at the mention of the letter. Then he looked at her confused. "I sent that letter weeks ago, there is no way you only just got it."

Jenny sighed and looked down at the floor "Yeah well a lot has happened since the fashion show Nate, I thought it would solve all my problems but everything got so much worse. It's been a rough few weeks."

"It's been rough for me as well you know, I still manage to find time to open my post." He bit back sarcastically.

"And so would I but seeing as I left home that night I haven't been on speaking terms with my dad let alone giving him a forwarding address." She snapped back, why wouldn't he even let her explain before he got snarky?

Nate was taken aback and he finally sat up. "What? Jenny why would you do that? Your dad and Dan love you."

"I know that now. I just got mad, my dad couldn't condone what I was doing, he thought I was making a huge mistake, turned out he was right. Anyway, so I was staying with Agnes'…" Nate rolled his eyes at her name, he always knew Agnes was a bad influence on Jenny. "…and we were trying to get a business up and running but every time we got a meeting she was screwing it up, so I tried to do it on my own and she found out so she got mad and burned all my dresses and chucked me out on the street."

Nate looked over at Jenny horrified. "You were living on the street?" He asked outraged.

"No of course not, well, not exactly. I was staying at Eric's, he kept sneaking me in at night so no-one would know where I was, the rest of the time I didn't really have anywhere to go. But then Bart and Lily got back and found out so Lily told my dad and he hunted me down earlier today. We had another argument about emancipation papers and how he wanted me home, so I ran off and was walking the streets. That's where Blair saw me and persuaded me that home was where I belonged. So I went home and I talked to my dad and Dan, and then to Vanessa and we had thanksgiving dinner at the loft with Lily and Eric and when they went home I started opening my post and now I'm here" She finished her monologue with a large sigh, it felt good to get it all out.

Nate was utterly perplexed. Jenny and drama always went together, that was just fact. But this, this was a lot for anyone to handle, let alone a 15 year old. "Jenny, I'm so sorry, it must have been terrible for you."

Jenny moved from the doorway and sat at the bottom of the bed next to him "No Nate, I'm sorry, I didn't come here to tell you my big sob story, I just came to tell you that I didn't ignore your letter, that if I had received it then I would have replied." she informed him. He was about to open his mouth when she remembered something "Anyway, you said a lot has been going on with you, tell me."

Nate looked at her strangely at her change of subject. Did she not want to talk about the things he had written. He went along with it anyway. "Oh, it was nothing important" He tried to brush it off, he wasn't sure he was ready to talk about it.

Jenny noticed his lack of enthusiasm about sharing but she pressed him anyway. "Come on Nate, it's something, I can tell, plus Chuck mentioned something was going on with you as well so it must be serious for him to care." She added the snide comment about Chuck, she just couldn't help it.

He sighed. "Look Jenny, I know how you feel about Chuck, and you have every right to hate him" He added quickly "but he's been a really good friend to me today OK? He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts and then he carried on "My dad came home."

"Wow, that great though isn't it?" She asked him, confused.

"Yeah at first. But then he wanted us to run away with him, he'd come back for us. I wasn't sure if we should go. And then I found out the police knew he was back and they wanted me to help them get him, in the end I agreed because it meant my mum could get the house and assets back, so I persuaded my dad it was the right thing to do. They took him away a few hours ago…" He finished and looked absolutely devastated.

Jenny couldn't stop what she did next, it was just pure instinct. She put her arms round him and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry Nate, if I'd have known I would have never bothered you with all my shit" She sympathised.

Nate found himself hugging her back, the warmth of her body was much more of a comfort than the alcohol had been. "Hey, don't apologise, we've always been able to share our problems with each other, it's how we became friends in the first place remember." He replied.

"Yeah" Of course she remembered, both of them blowing off Blair's party to talk about their families. "That's something we were always good at." she agreed.

Nate pulled her tighter and breathed her in, god, he had missed the way she felt in his arm and the sweet scent of her perfume. "Is it too late?" he whispered softly into her ear.

"I…I don't know" Her heart had begun to flutter as hope rose to the surface. She pulled slightly away and looked at his face "I mean, so much has happened since that week, for both of us, maybe we have missed our chance" She concluded, matching the forlorn look that had appeared on Nate's face.

"But, all those things I wrote, everything in that letter, I meant it then and I still feel it now" he pleaded. He gazed directly into her eyes and she stared right back, neither of them ever wanting to look away. They sat like that for a while, and then slowly, Nate tilted his head down and put his lips softly upon her own, barely touching.

"Well if that's the case, then I guess we will just have to work it out together" she whispered, a smile on her lips, and pulled him into a slow, passionate kiss.

**A/N **hope there is not too many errors, i only checked it once, i just wanted to get it uploaded for you folks out there. Also im thinking the next installment is probably going to be after my holiday, not before, i was intending on slight mushy scenes but the lack of that in my actual life at the moment is not helping my inspiration. my characters do not get a better love life than me, its not fair :(


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N **Hey guys. another chapter for y'all. "finally!" i hear you scream. well i apologise in advance because im not all that happy with this chapter, but didn't want to leave you guys hanging. So i promise the next installment shall be super duper awesomeness :D have a read anyways and tell me what you think. negative comments are also very welcome as long as you tell me how to improve. I'm here to learn!

**Disclaimer **I dont own gossip girl. just this story!

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

_I guess they worked things out _Chuck thought as he looked at the two sleeping bodies on the bed. They were snuggled up together, Nate's arm wrapped around Jenny's waist. As he stood there Jenny moved as if she was trying to grab something, she had moved slightly away from Nate and he had tightened his grip on her, pulling her back into his arms, a subconscious movement, trying to keep her close. Chuck almost smiled. Then she made the movement again and he realised what she wanted. He crept slowly into the room and picked up the blanket from the back of the chair and gently placed it over the pair of them, trying not to disturb either one. Then he retreated from the room quietly closing the door behind him. As his hand rested on the handle one thought crossed his mind _What am I doing? Acting so soft. I'm Chuck Bass for God's sake! _He shook his head and walked into his own room to go through the archives of gossip girl.

He hadn't actually waited to stop anyone from leaving, he'd gone to see Eric. He wanted to know if he had found anything of interest in Bart's safe and to ask about the pair up in his own suite. If anyone knew about Jenny it was Eric. Chuck hadn't expected to find out what he did. He knew his father always liked to know what people were up to around him, but keeping files on his own family? Even Chuck thought that was going too far! He hardly wanted to bring Jenny up now, but he was just too curious to stop himself. It had taken a bit of persuading, Eric obviously wanted to protect Jenny, especially from Chuck, but then again, Chuck had listened to him and been a brother to him when he needed it most. It turned out Eric didn't really know that much about Nate. Apparently there had been a gossip girl post, how had Chuck missed that one? but Jenny wouldn't talk about it, Eric had tried to get her to tell him, he could see that whatever happened had affected her but she just wouldn't say anything, or couldn't. He did tell Chuck about the fashion show and it's aftermath, about how Jenny had begun to spiral and couldn't stop. Chuck's obsession with Blair had clearly kept him out of the loop.

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><p>Jenny woke up slowly, the sunlight streaming in through the windows. At first she couldn't understand where she was but then the events of last night came flooding back to her. Nate was still fast asleep next to her, his arm wrapped loosely round her waist and a blanket was covering them both. He must have put it over them both at some point, she guessed. She hadn't meant to fall asleep at all, but after the kiss they just talked for hours about nothing in particular, just like it always was between them, just glad of each others company. She must have dropped off at some point, and Nate had let her sleep. She watched him for a while, he looked so peaceful, all the problems gone from his face as he slept: That was the real reason he smoked the weed, he had just wanted to escape his life for a while, Jenny knew that. Most people thought he was just a spoilt little rich kid that used drugs to rebel, or to create the cute stoner boy image that some girls seemed to love. Jenny knew his family had always had jurisdiction on his life, that they had planned everything out for him and he was supposed to do everything they asked, regardless of his happiness. But since Jenny had met him he had begun to talk his problems out with her and the drugs had slowly been left behind.<p>

As she lay there, she thought back to what had happened between them. Why had she kissed him? After what she had heard him say to Chuck, he may have been angry that she hadn't replied to his letter but what if there was some truth to what he had said? She hadn't asked and he hadn't mentioned it. In fact they hadn't really talked at all. She told him her story and he told her his. They didn't go into detail about what the letter had said. They avoided any committal conversation at all. She shouldn't have kissed him, she realised too late. They were just jumping in at the deep end once again and she wasn't sure they could stay afloat. Maybe friendship was all they could have. They needed time: he would need to work through things with his mum and she had only just moved back in with her family.

"SHIT" she exclaimed, getting up off the bed rather abruptly.

"Huh?…Wha?…Who?…" Nate murmured, waking at the sudden commotion.

"Dan" Jenny told him as if that explained everything.

"Dan's here?" asked Nate, more confused than ever.

"No, I told him I had to go out but I wouldn't be long, that was…" Jenny looked at her watch. "Shit, nearly 12 hours ago, he is going to be _so_ pissed"

Nate sat up quickly. He realised how much they would have to deal with if Dan found out she'd been here all night. He would assume the worst and with them not speaking right now it was going to be hard to explain to Dan, who was extremely protective when it came to Jenny. "What are you going to tell him?"

Jenny bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't have a clue. "I really don't know Nate" she replied. "I've just got them back, I really need to work to gain their trust again, I'm not sure lying is going to help matters, but if I tell them I was with you, that will turn out worse. I've messed up so much recently and this is another of those times. I don't know what's wrong with me." She finished, unable to stop the tears sliding down her face.

Nate looked at her devastated. "Why is this another of those times? I thought that's why you came to see me? I thought this is what you wanted?"

"It is" she assured him looking into his eyes.

"But?" He knew there was something bad coming.

"I don't know Nate, we haven't talked about any of this, about the letter or about the consequences of it. I know I said we can work it out together but it's a lot to deal with right now with everything that's going on around us. I think I just need to get my feet on solid ground first" she looked at him another tear falling slowly down her cheek. "I'm sorry" she added, and with that she picked up her bag and walked out of the door.

Nate was still stood where she'd left him, looking stunned, when Chuck found him. "Nathaniel? What's up?"

"She left" he whispered, barely able to say those devastating words.

"Yeah I expect she had to get home before her dad realised she was gone." Chuck reassured his friend.

"No" Nate shook his head slowly "She really left" and sank onto the bed.

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><p>Dan was waiting for Jenny when she entered the loft. "Where the hell have you been?" He seethed.<p>

"Does dad know I've been gone?" She asked her brother, hoping he hadn't ratted her out.

"No, I told him you'd gone to bed, god knows why and then this morning you weren't here and I told him you'd gone for a walk. He's at the gallery now. So you'd better tell me where you were or I'll tell him you haven't changed one bit!" Dan informed her, anger still evident in his voice.

Jenny sighed with relief "Thanks Dan, you know, I do want it to be different this time, I want us to be a family again that's why I had to go out and draw a line under everything that happened before" It wasn't exactly the truth, but that's the way it had turned out so she went with it.

"And that took you all night?" Dan asked his sister sceptically.

"Yeah, sorry, it didn't mean to I just fell asleep" That was the truth, so hopefully he would believe it.

"Yeah? Who's did you sleep at?" Dan was always one to ask too many questions.

"Look Dan, It's done now, I don't want to lie to you so please don't ask questions that I can't answer. All I can say is that the past is the past and I'm starting fresh from this point onwards!" She made it clear that was the end of the conversation and went to her room, closing the door behind her. The trust issue was definitely going to take a long time. She was just glad that Rufus didn't realise she was gone, she wouldn't have to answer his questions, he was bound to be more thorough.

Jenny thought that she could maybe, just maybe, get through this unscathed. And no one would have to find out the truth about last night. It wouldn't help her move on and with Nate's reputation she was bound to be branded a whore or a slag. Unfortunately she hadn't banked on gossip girl.

**Spotted.**

**Little J leaving the Palace, only to be chased by Chuck Bass**

**He puts her in the lift and she doesn't leave till morning.**

**What does Queen B think of all this?**

**Little J tried to take her crown once before**

**Now it seems she's going for the king.**

**XOXO**

_**Gossip Girl**_

And to make matters worse there was two pictures, one of Chuck putting her in the lift last night, and one of her leaving this morning with rather ruffled clothes. Great! Dan was going to go ape shit. He wouldn't listen to her side of events she thought, as her door banged open and Dan stormed in, holding his phone in his hand and had a look that could quite easily kill.

"Chuck! Seriously? After everything that happened last year? And everything you just said to me!" Dan shouted at his sister.

"It's not what it looks like." She tried to reassure him and calm him down.

"A picture is worth a thousand words Jen" He wasn't calm at all.

"And where gossip girl is concerned, that's a thousand words of bollocks!" Jenny retorted. "Come on Dan, you know that gossip girl says what she sees, it doesn't make it true, like Serena being pregnant that time, she just likes to spread chaos!"

Dan saw Jenny's point but after everything that had happened he couldn't trust his sister and he definitely couldn't trust Chuck Bass. "Yeah, well what was it like then Jen? You're hiding something from me, what do you expect me to think?"

"Not that! Come on Dan, I wouldn't go near Chuck after what happened at the kiss on the lips party." She replied, appalled Dan could think that low of her.

"Then why would you be at The Palace? What reason did you have to visit Ch-" It suddenly clicked in Dan's brain and a look of disgust crossed his face. "You were with Nate, weren't you?" And he stared into Jenny's eyes, seeing guilt fill them before she turned away from him. "I can't believe after everything that he is still seeing you behind my back!" He didn't even give Jenny time to explain "I'm going to kill him!" He shouted and walked out of her room, through the front door and down the stairs.

Well that had gone really well. Dan was on the warpath, going after his former best friend. No doubt Blair was going to be after her again. And being Blair's enemy was never very fun. Jenny had hoped she could start back at Constance as soon as possible, but now, with more rumours flying around about her, that had definitely been taken off the agenda. Just when she thought she could start turning her life around, another load of shit comes flying her way. What had she ever done to deserve all this?

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><p><strong>AN **This chapter didn't turn out how i imagined at all. i wrote a big draft of mushiness (because i can right now :D I think may have the power to grant wishes is all im saying) But when I began writing this came out. And I shed a tear at my own evilness! I think it may turn out better because they definitely have problems that they need to solve before a relationship will work, they'll get there in the end i hope! Dont ask where the whole gossip girl blast came from either, it just appeared on the page in front of me :/ Anyways where would gossip girl be without a little drama huh?

Thanks for the continuing support, reviews and subscriptions to the story, it wouldn't be anything without you guys, you keep me going :)


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